DESCRIPTION (Taken from application abstract): The long-term objective of this research is to develop computer systems to automatically describe a patient's clinical status, providing care givers with an easy means for quickly obtaining the exact information they need for patient care. Specifically, the research will develop a system for automatically producing multimedia briefings that provide care givers with timely, effective updates on a patient's condition after a CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) operation. The system will use AI techniques to create summaries that combine natural language and graphics that are generated on the fly and tailored to the information needs of different care givers. By integrating data currently available in the computerized operating room and other online databases at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, these summaries will provide a timely and concise overview of information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. Evaluation will test the hypothesis that these multimedia briefings will improve continuity of care for post-CABG patients, by deploying the system in the cardiac ICU (intensive care unit) and measuring changes in delay and error in treatment of arriving patients as well as reductions in the amount of direct communication needed among care givers. Measurements will compare online records of drips with and without use of the system. The research plan includes scaling an initial prototype, developed prior to the proposed research, to handle multimedia summarization on a large number of input patient cases; developing tools to customize the briefing for cardiologists, ICU residents, and ICU nurses; developing techniques to allow the care giver to interrupt the system; developing an inferencing component to identify significant events during the operation; and evaluating the proposed work at early stages, to feedback care giver preferences into system development, and at late stages, to quantify the system's effectiveness.